Core Team

CCN’s Core Team acts as a leadership committee for the organization, coordinating state- and region-wide efforts as well as planning various events and seasonal gatherings.

 

  • Co-Director, Oregon: Emma Newman (emma.newman@gmail.com), University of Oregon

When I found the CCN, I felt at home because I met so many youth from the Pacific Northwest who all accept me and others for who they are. We work together to transform our world by supporting each other in our life journeys as engaged and passionate citizens. This year I am excited to be the CCN Co-Director from Oregon and support the core team and the entire network across Oregon and Washington. I first started organizing around sustainability and climate change my senior year of high school by starting a sustainability team, but since then have been highly involved in the UO Climate Justice League, the University of Oregon student government (ASUO), the Sierra Student Coalition, and the Cascade Climate Network. My organizing has expanded from sustainability to incorporate anti-oppression, youth empowerment, social justice, and more because the more I organize the more I see that everything is connected. I’m passionate about community building and organizing and how the stories we tell change the lives we live and the world we live in. Some of my hobbies include classical music, cooking and sharing vegetarian food with friends, cycling, rock climbing, yoga, and swing dancing.

  • Co-Director, Washington: Ian Siadak (iansiadak@gmail.com), Seattle

Ian is a lifelong resident of the Northwest and is thrilled to live in a place filled with natural beauty and thriving activist networks.  He works as an organizer for low-income worker and tenants rights as well as environmental campaigns with the Sierra Student Coalition and the CCN.  Currently, he is focusing on carbon-pricing and progressive economic reform through local NGOs. In his free time he enjoys playing guitar, paddling canoes, and playing with animals.  Ian is excited to help the CCN expand into new communities in the region and to strengthen the network from the inside out.

  • Regional Coordinator, Portland: Dan Browne (dbrowne.up@gmail.com), University of Portland – stepping down at the end of December 2011

I am currently a senior at the University of Portland, majoring in Environmental Science and minoring in Chemistry, and will graduate in December 2011. Passions include sustainability and clean, renewable energy. I have been making biodiesel at UP for a little more than a year and am the Founding President of the Biodiesel Club. My organizing experience includes work with Focus the Nation and PowerShift West. I love the CCN because it is great meeting new people with whom one can share and learn. As the Portland Regional Coordinator, I am looking to establish new community contacts in the Portland metropolitan area – so if you are from Portland and interested in the CCN, please shoot me an email or phone call!

 

  • Regional Coordinator, Southern Oregon: David Kellner-Rode (kellnerrode@gmail.com), Bend

Hi, I’m David and I’m really excited to be the Cascade Climate Network’s Central/Southern Oregon regional coordinator for the next year. I graduated from Linfield College in May 2011 with a degree in Environmental Policy and minors in sociology and political science. My organizing experience includes facilitating Greenfield, which is Linfield’s environmental club, founding the Linfield Bike Co-Op, working on various political campaigns, helping organize Power Shift Linfield, and most recently working with Occupy Bend, Oregon. I was also arrested this summer in Washington D.C. while protesting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and spent the weekend in jail with Bill McKibben. I have decided to become more involved with the Cascade Climate Network for a couple big reasons. I believe that we as humans are at a place in our time on this planet where we must make major changes in the way we interact with each other and with the environment which supports us and I truly believe that the model of local and regional organization that the CCN espouses is one of the best ways to change the course of our future. So, please join me in organizing with the CCN so we can continue gaining momentum in building the world in which we want to live! Also, don’t hesitate to contact me if you ever have any questions about the CCN or are interested in getting involved.

  • Regional Coordinator, Seattle: Scott Davis (scottydavis89@gmail.com), University of Washington

My name is Scott Davis, and I am this year’s Seattle-area regional Coordinator for the CCN. In my life I have lived in California, Utah, and Seattle, Washington in that order. My adventure to Utah was a sort of revival for myself near the end of high school, where I backpacked for two months, and learned to do all my favorite things today: mountain bike, ski, drink coffee, think critically, and create community. I am an optimist and a critic simultaneously; I like to imagine a world very different from our own, where we don’t simplify our economics or our ecosystems for short term gain, but instead guide ourselves to appreciation of the immensity of time and space. The CCN is empowering to me because it is a community that recognizes the intersections between environmental degradation and social injustices. The CCN is powerful because it connects regionally and remains focused locally. I’m excited to be a part of it – you should be too.

  • Regional Coordinator, Eastern Washington: Jenni Doering (doerinje@whitman.edu), Whitman College

Jenni became involved in climate activism as a freshman, devoting her time to initiating an Industrial Composting system and to other Whitman Campus Climate Challenge campaigns. She feels especially drawn to issues of social justice in the environmental movement and seeks to understand and reflect on the holistic human condition. Jenni considers herself a “big picture” team member who also enjoys detail-oriented work. Involvement in the CCN and other activism-oriented groups empowers and inspires her, and she feels honored to work with individuals who hold similar visions of the future world. She looks forward to pursuing that vision by connecting with youth activism groups through her role as the Greater Washington Regional Coordinator this year.

  • Regional Coordinator, Western Washington: TBA
  • Coalitions Facilitator: Natalie Eberts (nataliEberts@gmail.com), Western Washington University

Hi, my name is Natalie and I’m a senior at Western Washington University in Bellingham. I’m really interested in the human rights, social justice, and developing country aspects of climate justice and I’ll be serving in the Peace Corps for two years after I graduate, hopefully in Africa. I came to CCN through Sierra Student Coalition’s SPROG training, over the summer I went to DC for the Tar Sands Action, and this year I’m part of working to stop a coal terminal in B’ham, as well as doing human rights organizing for the Congo and East African famine. One of my strengths is coming up with ideas and connecting people, so if you are part of another regional network or a local organization, I’d love to talk with you about how we can develop mutually beneficial partnerships out of the common purpose and vision we have.

  • Fundraising and Gatherings Facilitator: Nikki Polizzotto (npolizzotto@gmail.com), University of Puget Sound

Nikki Polizzotto: Sophomore studying Anthropology/Sociology and Environmental Policy and University of Puget Sound. My previous experience includes: President of the Puget Sound Students for a Sustainable Campus, Waterkeeper Alliance Volunteer, Ecomedia Volunteer. It is my duty as a citizen on this earth to do what in my power to create a sustainable, prosperous and just future. I want to devote myself to social and environmental justice issues in order to make this a more peaceful and beautiful world for all. This year I am Fundraising and Gatherings chair for the CCN. My job is to plan engaging and motivating local gatherings for the Northwest youth to participate in! I am also responsible for making sure that the CCN has the financial resources to keep itself going and is able continue to facilitate community gatherings. I love the CCN because we are creating seeable change and a bright future for the generations to come- all through a grass-roots movement! If you would like to discuss how to get involved in planning, attending and/or donating for a conference please contact me at: npolizzotto@gmail.com

  • Media and Resources Facilitator: Monica Christoffels (mpchristoffels@gmail.com), Lane Community College

I first became active on the environmental advocacy scene at Power Shift West ’09; before that, I’d never concerned myself with the crises of climate change, environmental degradation nor social injustice. Ever since then, however, these critical issues have constantly occupied my mind – to the point where I’ve changed my major from Pre-journalism to Environmental Studies, and dedicated my time and my future to creating a healthy, just and prosperous future for the planet and everything/everyone on it. Earlier this summer I was arrested at the White House for protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline, and this winter I will travel to Durban, South Africa for the U.N.’s 17th Annual Conference on Climate Change. Despite our turbulent road ahead, I’m excited to see what the future brings and how my generation will, literally, change the world.

 

Interested in joining our Core Team? Contact us for more information and to apply!